Simply Me
by Fancy-Pants Lockhart
Summary: This is the story of Monica Palmetto. Her life before during and after The Truth About Forever. From the moment she finds out about Kristy’s accident to the day she marries the love of her life.
1. Prolouge

Disclaimer: I own nothing

Summery: This is the story of Monica Mariana Palmetto. Her life before during and after _The Truth About Forever_. From the moment she finds out about Kristy's accident to the day she marries the love of her life.

A/N: This is my first fanfic so please be gentle with the reviews. The story is told from Monica's p.o.v. NO FLAMES!

Chapter One: Prologue

I couldn't believe it when she told me. I was sitting on the couch in the living room when I got the call. I was watching music videos on mtv when the phone rang. I didn't really think about it at the moment, I just figured Mom was checking up on me or something. But it wasn't my Mom calling; it was Grandma Stella, about to give the scare of a lifetime.

"Palmetto residence, Monica speaking," I said into the phone.

"Monica, sweaty, it's me Grandma Stella. Listen, I want you to get ready I'm coming to pick you up in twenty minutes," she sounded scared; I knew something bad had happened.

"Wha-"

"I'll tell you when I get there," and with that she hung up.

I was immediately filled with a sense of dred. What happened? Was someone hurt? Who? Mom? Dad? Kristy? Shawn? Patrick? Jared? I had no idea what was going on. I just knew I had to get ready for when Gran came to get me. True to her word twenty minutes later there she was, honking the horn outside. As soon as I got in the car I asked "What's going on?"

"You're mom and Kristy got into an accident when they were on their way to school. They're at the hospital right now." She said it so calmly, but I knew she was just as scared as I was.

"Are they o.k.? Did you call Patrick or Dad to let them know?" I asked frantically.

""Well, first I had to get you. I'll call them when we get to the hospital. I'm sure they'll be fine, Nic, _everything_ will be just fine" she said using my old nickname. I wanted to believe her, I really did, but something told me otherwise. We arrived at the hospital ten minutes later.

As we walked through the corridors I was lost in my own little world. I was just thinking to myself what if they die? I can't live without them. Kristy's only twelve she's a good person, she doesn't deserve to die. As we reached the waiting room I felt tears well up in my eyes._ No don't cry, I have to be strong…for Gran_.

We waited there for hours. Then finally around one a doctor came out of the room.

"Mrs.Palmetto, Ms.Palmetto, hello I'm Dr.Grellen. I just wanted to say don't worry. Both Justine and Kristy are alright." I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding. Kristy and Mom were alright. "However," _Oh no_ "I'm afraid I do have some bad news…You're granddaughter, Kristy, was on the side of the car that hit the tree and the fence, so she had to have the most surgeries. She has some scars as a result of both the accident and surgeries, but at least she's alive. You can come back and visit them tomorrow, but for now, they both need their rest. Good day." And with that he walked off.

"You'll have to stay with me tonight, Nic. I called you're father to let him know what happened. He's on the other side of the country right now visiting some old friends from school. He said he'd be back as soon as he could. Patrick is on his way here as we speak." She said. Even under these circumstances I could tell she was glad to know she'd be seeing her grandson again after what? Two years? I've gotta admit I'm glad to know he'll be here with us soon too. Patrick's my oldest brother. I have three brothers in all Patrick, Jared, and Shawn. Jared and Shawn are my _half_-brothers though, but still. Anyway Patrick's nineteen and he lives in Alameda in CA. He moved there with his girlfriend, Alyson last year. I miss him but he writes and calls a lot so that makes it easier for Kristy and me.

"I called Shawn; he said he'd try to get here as soon as he could. He said he waned to be here for us. I told him he's supposed to come over this weekend anyway, and it's already Thursday so why not just wait. Kristy's fine. I'm fine so what's the use? He finally agreed, but he said he'd be here at dawn on Saturday." I said laughing a little at the memory of my little brother on the phone practically yelling at me that he wanted to come. He may seem like a total badass to most people but under that tough exterior he's really a family guy.

"Jared wasn't home so Shawn said he'd tell him." I said.

"Good, good, they should be here. I know how much they love Kristy…and you, of course." She said seaming a little distracted, but who can blame her after what happened today.

We drove in silence the rest of the way to Gram's trailer. When we finally got there we ate dinner and went out separate ways. She went to her room and I went out to her garden to think. All I could do know was wait and see what tomorrow would bring. _Maybe I should talk to Wish tomorrow and fill her in on what happened. She always seems to know how to comfort me when I need it._


	2. Best Friends

Disclaimer: I own nothing except the characters I made up such as Patrick, Jared, Shawn Fancy, etc.

A/N: Thank you to Elizabeth Theresa for your review. The last chapter was kind of rushed so I'm gonna try to spend more time on this one. Hope you enjoy. Please R&R. Constructive criticism welcome but NO FLAMES!

Chapter 2: Best Friends

I'd had maybe five hours of sleep at the most, so I probably looked like hell when Patrick arrived.

"You alright, Shorty? Did you sleep at all last night? You look like shit!" asked Patrick looking like hell himself.

"Look who's talking. How've you been Patrick?" I asked trying to look as happy as I could considering _the reason_ he was here.

"I've been better. So how're Mom and Kristy? The last I heard, Stella said they were stable." He asked looking as casual as he possibly could, even though I could tell it was more for my sake then anything else.

"I know as much as you do. Stella said we could go see them at 10:00 this morning. That's when visiting hours start." I said at his look of protest.

"Patrick, sweetheart, you're here!" Stella said more loudly then necessary startling us both.

"Stella, it's good to see you again. How are you?" he said starting to sound tired.

And with that they walked into the kitchen. It was only eight-thirty so we still had some time before we left for the hospital.

"I'm gonna go see Wish. I'll be back before then." I said walking out the front door.

I was enjoying the quietness of the cool February morning when my cell rang. I jumped at the sudden sound destroying the once quiet morning and drawing me out of my thoughts.

"Hello" I said realizing my voice sounded unusually hoarse.

"Nic, are you alright? Why aren't you at school? I thought you said you'd be back today since you were feeling better?" asked the voice I immediately recognized as belonging to my best friend Fancy.

Fancy and I met our first day in kindergarten. She came right up to me at recess and asked if she could have some of my cookies. We've been best friends ever since. Her real name is Mariana Lorelai Fancy Jennifer Hunter. We laughed when we first introduced ourselves because it took her forever to finally tell me her full name. She's always said she hated her name. _"Why couldn't my parents have named me Mariana Lorelai Hunter or Mariana Jennifer Hunter? Why did they have to give me THREE middle names, huh? And who names their kid FANCY? What were they thinking?"_ She rants whenever she tells someone her full name. I don't know what she's complaining about. I think she has a unique. Not to mention beautiful. It matches her perfectly, I think so anyway. A beautiful name for a beautiful person, inside and out. She's only 5"4, which she is always complaining about (she complains a lot but in a good way…does that make since?).She has pretty medium sized curly brown hair almost identical to mine. And nice deep eyes, which if you look closely are two different shades of brown. She has a very outgoing personality, and is really sarcastic. She's the best friend I've ever had.

"I can't believe I forgot to call you, Fancy, I…Kristy and my Mom were in an accident yesterday. They're alright. But I'm Patrick, Stella and I are gonna visit them today. I'm so sorry I completely forgot to tell you." I said feeling bad about forgetting to tell her. Since Fancy and I hang out together so much she and Kristy are pretty close too. Fancy has a sister too, but she's ten years older than Fancy so they're not really close. Fancy always says Kristy's the sister she wished she had.

"Are you sure they're alright? Do you want me to come over? I can ditch class the rest of the day." She said sounding frantic.

"No. You stay I know you'll use any excuse to ditch school," I said teasingly "But everything's fine now, really. Can you come over after school though? I do wanna talk to you. I'm on my way to Wish's right now, then I'm heading to the hospital with Patrick and Stella." I told her.

"Yeah. Sure. Of course. I'll be there as soon as school's out." She said.

"Great. I'll see you then, bye."

"Wait, Nic. Tell Kristy I said 'Hey' and that I hope she feels better. And you're Mom too."

"I will. See ya."

"See ya."

And then I looked up and I was at Wish's.


	3. Remember

Disclaimer: I own nothing except charecters I made up such as Patrick, Fancy, Shawn, etc.

A/N: Well here's chapter 3. Wish finally comes into the picture as do Wes and Delia.

Chapter 3: Remember

As I knocked on the door I suddenly remembered the first time I ever met Wish. It was the week after my tenth birthday. And I was at Stella's while my mom and Kristy were at a doctor's appointment because Kristy wasn't feeling well. I was sitting in the garden when Stella decided she wanted to visit her neighbor Wish.

"_Nic, sweaty do you want to come with me to visit a neighbor of mine for a little while?" she asked me._

"_Do I have a choice?" I didn't really want to go. I've always been very hesitant about meeting new people I'm not really sure why though._

"_No. Come on. I promise if you get bored we won't stay too long. You should be pretty entertained though. She had two sons. Wes, he's about twelve now and Bert, he's seven." She said trying to make the thought of spending my afternoon with two boys one almost a _teenager_ who probably won't want to spend his precious afternoon with a little ten year old girl and another who's probably still playing with action figures._

"_Uh-huh" I said._

_Two minutes later we were outside a cabin-like house. It looked very cozy and welcoming. 'I guess it might not be too bad' I thought to myself._

_Stella knocked on the door and sure enough a minute later a woman appeared at the front door. She had dark curly hair like mine, only difference was that her hair was black whereas mine was dark brown._

"_Hello, Stella, you're late again," she said with a teasing smile on her face._

"_Yes, I know. I'm sorry about that really. My granddaughter is visiting today so I was a little busy." It was then the woman noticed me._

"_Oh, hello. I'm sorry I didn't see you there. I'm Melissa, but you can call me Wish everyone does." She said her smile seemed infectious because as I looked at her I wanted nothing more than to smile as well. I already like her and I'd know her for less than a minute._

"_Hi, I'm Monica, but you can call Nic." I told her._

"_Wow. That's a sign of acceptance, Wish. She doesn't usually let strangers call her Nic." Said Stella with a smile on her face._

"_Well I'm flattered. Please come in you two." Said Wish welcoming us into her home._

"_My husband it out at the moment so you won't get to meet him today, Nic." She said looking a little tense. "My boys are home though. Wes. Bert. Can you two please some out here for a minute?" _

"_Yeah Mom?" said a tall boy with the same curly dark hair as his mother. I couldn't help but think he was really cute. He was wearing sweats and was sweating. He looked as though he'd just been exercising or something. I was assuming this was Wes, Wish's oldest son by what Stella had said earlier. A second later another smaller boy appeared. He had the same curly hair as his mom and brother and the same dark eyes as well._

"_Wes, Bert, this is Stella's granddaughter, Monica" then she turned to me. "Nic, these are my sons Wesley" she said indicating the taller boy "and Robert." She nodded at the smaller boy. "Boys why don't you show Monica around?" she asked them._

"_Yeah,alright, Mom. Come on, Monica" said Bert pulling me by the arm. He pulled me into a small hallway and into the first room._

"_This is my parents' room, so there's not much to see here. And this is my room." He said pulling me into another room. There were posters on every wall. It was a lot to take. All the posters had something or other to do with how the world will end._

"_Do you like it?" he asked seeming very interested in my opinion._

"_Um…yeah it's really cool" I said not entirely lying. I did think it was somewhat interesting. "So, I take it you're really interested in how the world will end." I said._

"_Oh yeah. That's really interesting stuff. Want me to tell you more about it? Most people get really freaked out when they find out but I can tell you're different." He said looking really excited. I found myself suddenly fond of this little boy who reminded me of my little brother._

"_Maybe some other time, Bert. Mom says lunch is ready." Said Wes and as soon as Bert heard that he ran out the room. "Sorry about him he can get pretty intense sometimes."_

"_It's o.k. I don't mind. I was actually kind of interested." _

"_Really?" _

"_Yeah. I take it you don't really share the same feelings as you're brother on the matter."_

"_Well, not really, no. I don't really care about how the world ends. Why think about the then when we don't even know when then is? I'd rather focus on the now."_

"_No day but today" he stopped and looked at me. "What?"_

"_You're a renthead?" he asked looking at me incredulously._

"_Yeah" I admitted sheepishly. "You?"_

"_Yeah, we saw that musical when we went to New York last year!" _

"_I've never seen the musical, I've always wanted too but we can't really afford to go to the theatre." I told him. "I just own the c.d. and I know the basic story line, but that's all."_

"_Really? Well you have to see the musical some day it's great…"_

_And soon the day was. Stella and I (somewhat hesitantly) left. _

Of course we went back though and I soon became fast friends with Bert and Wes. Wish and I got really close too. My mother was never really there for me and whenever I need some motherly advice or needed someone to comfort me, I knew I could always got to her no matter what.

A minute later Wes opened the door.

"Hey, how are you?" I asked. He looked thinner than the last time I saw him. He also looked worn out. But then again, he had a right to be. About four months ago we'd learned Wish had breast cancer. It affected all of us greatly, but Wes most of all. You see about five months ago Wes was arrested for breaking and entering. He's not a bad guy really, he just had some bad friends. He was at a reform school called Myers when Wish found out about the cancer. He was so mad at himself for being so stupid and not being able to be there for Bert and Wish. When he got back about a month ago, he was suddenly very protective of his family, Bert especially. I expected that. What I didn't expect was how protective he was of me. I guess he was just scared something bad would happen to someone else he loved.

"I'm o.k. Mom's getting worse." He sounded scared. "Come in"

------------------------------------------------------

"I thought you were going back to school today." He said ten minutes later when we were in the kitchen having a snack.

"I was but…"

"Yeah…" he urged.

"Mom and Kristy were in a car accident yesterday."

"What? Why didn't you say so earlier? Are they o.k.?"

"They're fine. That's kind of why I came though. I wanted to talk to wish but I don't want to bother her if she's getting worse. She has enough problems without me adding to them."

"Hey, you know you can talk to me. I'm always here for you, Shorty." He said using the nickname only he and Patrick could use without getting hurt.

"I know…I was really scared, Wes. When Stella told me what happened I…I just couldn't believe it. All I kept thinking was 'I can't lose Kristy'. She's my little sister, I love her. She really is a good sister no matter how much we argue…I'd rather have her in my life and be a pain than not have her in my life at all." I said, tears now running down my cheeks.

"I know, Shorty, I know." He said soothingly as he took me in his arms. I couldn't help but feel safe as he held me. When I was in his arms I just somehow knew that Kristy and I would survive no matter what may come.

We'd talked for about thirty minutes when I realized the time.

"I'd better go. Patrick, Stella, and I are going to the hospital to visit Mom and Kristy. Tell Wish I said 'Hi'" I told him heading toward the door.

"I will. Hey I'll come over later to check up on you."

"That's o.k. you don't have to Fancy's coming over after school and Patrick's here now so I'll be fine. I'm sure you'd rather stay here with you're mom."

"Really I don't mind." He said sounding very insistent. "Delia's coming over later so I can get out of the house for a little while. Really Shorty, I want to." As he said this he put on his best puppy dog face.

"Well, how can I say no to that? Alright come over around 4:00 Fancy should be there by then too."

"Great see you then."

"Yeah, see you then." I said walking out the door.


	4. A mother's farewell

Disclaimer: I own nothing except characters I made up such as Fancy, Patrick, Shawn, etc.

A/N: I can't believe I'm really on chapter four already! If anyone actually reads this I hope you enjoy. Also I've decided this story is set about five years before _The Truth About Forever. _Also here's a list of everyone's age in the story just in case anyone gets confused:

Monica: 14Jared: 17

Wes: 16Shawn:13

Patrick: 19

Kristy: 12

Bert: 11

Fancy: 14

So anyway on with the story. Please R&R. NO FLAMES!

It was five past ten when we arrived at the hospital. The ride there had been surprisingly happy. Patrick was filling us in on what'd been going on in his life. We'd even laughed a couple times. However that all changed when we drove into the hospital parking lot.

"Patrick! You're here!" yelled a very excited Kristy.

"Of course I'm here, kid." Said Patrick trying to hide the surprise on his face when he saw hers. "Are you o.k?" he asked as he gave her the teddy bear he's just bought in the hospital giftshop.

"Patrick thank you! I'm fine. It's sucks being stuck in this bed all the time though. I still don't think it was all that necessary to cut _all_ my hair off though. That's just not fare! Stella, Nic, hey I didn't see you two. Come here and give me a hug everyone!" said Kristy as though nothing big had just happened.

-----------------------------------------------------------

"Well, I'm gonna go check on you're mother. Are you gonna be alright, Kristy?" asked Stella after we'd been there for about half an hour.

"I'll be fine. Go check on Mom."

"I'll come with you." Said Patrick giving Kristy a hug and giving me a squeeze on the shoulder before following Stella out of the room.

"Why are you so quiet?" Kristy asked me after about five minutes of silence.

"I guess I just don't really have much to say." I told her lying through my teeth.

"I'm shocked! You Monica never shuts up Palmetto speechless? I don't believe you."

"Kristy… I was just… I was so scared I was gonna loose you." I admitted no longer being able to hold back the tears in my eyes. I hugged her for a good minute or so until I pulled back and looked up to see she too had tears in her eyes. "Kristy what-"

"I was scared too, Nic. When we went off the road I was so scared. The we hit that fence and then the tree. Before I blacked out I really thought 'This is it. I'm gonna die' I as so scared, Nic." She sobbed into my shoulder.

"When I woke up," she continued after a minute "the nurse gave me a mirror and I saw myself… I didn't even recognize me at first. I thought it was some kind of joke. My hair was all just…_gone_. I had these scars on my face. I know it could be worse. I could've had more scars, I could've lost an eye or something, I could've died. But that didn't seem to matter. All that mattered was that I was no longer the same me I was before the accident. I was someone I could barely stand to look at. Nic, I don't see how you or anyone else can stand to look at me when I can barely stand to look at myself!"

"Kristy…" I was at loss for words. I knew I should tell her that I didn't care how she looked and neither did anyone else who loved her, but I just couldn't. The truth is I was still hoping that this was a some kind of nightmare I would wake up from any minute. So I just held her again.

"I love you sis. No matter what alright. And you're right, it could've been worse. It could've been _a lot_ worse. Look, I know that you feel terrible right now but… it will get better. I promise. I'm here for you and so are Stella and Patrick and Mom. Shawn and Jared are coming over tomorrow and they'll be here for you too." I didn't want to bring up Dad because he was still a sore subject to Kristy.

My parents were never married. They dated on and off for a really long time though, ever since high school my mom told me. When my mom found out she was pregnant with Patrick they almost got married. They moved in together and everything but then as soon as Patrick was born Dad left. Mom didn't here from him again for three years. When he finally did come back he apologized to my mom and for some reason she took him back. Then three years later, I was born. He actually stuck around this time. Two years after I was born came Kristy. He left when she was four. He went back to his other family though we didn't know it at the time, he had two sons with a women named Claire Ann Wilson. Those to sons were Jared and Shawn. We see him now and then. When I was younger I used to always hear my mom cry and call out his name when she thought no one heard her. For that I've always hated Michael Andrew Larson. For some reason though Kristy has always been really attached to him. I never knew why. Patrick felt the same way about him that I did, so why didn't Kristy? Even after he would always leave no matter how much she protested. She would always cry for days sometimes even weeks after he left. And then every time he comes back she always forgives him like Mom. I'll never understand that.

"Monica!" said Kristy drawing me out of my thoughts "What are you thinking about?"

"Nothing important. So did the doctor say when you can come home?" I asked her.

"Monday. The doctor said I can come home Monday. They wanted to keep me here for a little while just to make sure I'm fine."

"Great, I can't wait…"

-----------------------------------------------------------------

"Monica, so you want to come say hello to you're mother." Said Stella seeming very nervous for some reason. I wonder what that's all about.

"Sure."

---------------------------------------------------------

"Hey Mom-what's going on? Sis the doctors say you can come home now? Is that why you're packing?" I asked her wondering why she seemed so rushed.

"The doctor's said I can leave, Monica, but… I'm not going home."

"Are we gonna stay at Stella's?" I asked suddenly feeling very nervous.

"You are, honey. You're gonna stay with Stella for a while. Me, I'm gonna… I'm leaving, Monica. I can't do this anymore. I just know there has to be more to life than…than this life I'm living. Please understand Monica. I don't know how long I'll be gone. Maybe months…maybe years. I don't know when I'll see you again. I just wanted to let you know that I _do_ love you. And Kristy. I just can't live this life anymore. I'm sorry, sweaty. Please try to understa-"

"No! No! No! No! I'm not hearing this! How can you just pack up and leave us? Why can't you take us with you?" I asked not wanting to believe anything that she was saying. She couldn't leave she just couldn't.

"I can't take you with me, Monica I just can't." she told me.

"Why?"

"I just can't Monica. Look don't make this any harder than it is. Just accept it and move on! I want you to be the one to tell Kristy. I already told Mom and Patrick but she's closest to you. She _needs_ to hear it from _you_. I'm sorry. Goodbye." And with that she left.

----------------------------------------------------------

I wasn't sure how long I wandered the halls before Patrick found me.

"Ready to go?" he asked me.

"…"

"I take it Mom told you."

"…"

"Come here." He said pulling me into a tight hug.

"How could she just up and leave like that? She didn't even tell Kristy goodbye. She told me I should be the one to tell her."

"If you want I can tell her for you."

"No. She should here it from me. But you should definably be there when I tell her. She's gonna need more support than any of us. They were really close." I told him.

"When are you gonna tell her?"

"Tomorrow. I can't handle it today. I just wanna go home." I said into his shoulder.

"Tomorrow it is." And with that we walked back to Kristy's room.

----------------------------------------------------------

"See you tomorrow Kristy." I said giving her one last hug and trying to look as cheerful as I possibly could.

"O.K. Later Nic, Patrick you coming tomorrow too?"

"Yeah. I'll be here." He said while giving her a hug and briefly glancing at me.

_Tomorrow._ And with that we left.


	5. Moving On

Disclaimer: I own nothing except the characters I made up such as Shawn, Fancy, Patrick, Jared, etc.

A/N: I'm not all too pleased with the way that last chapter went. I originally wanted more of a confrontation with Monica and Justine but I was kind of tired and well yeah. Anyway I hope you enjoy this chapter. Please R&R, just to let me know someone's reading this. I really want feedback. And, yes, this is gonna be an eventual Wes/Monica fic. I will however try to put a lot of details in when I write the Wes/Macy part of this fic. Don't worry she'll have a happy ending too, I'll try to put in a lot of details about that too. I've decided that for the next chapter, I'm gonna fast forward a few years I'm not sure how many yet though. So, again enjoy!

Chapter 5: Moving On

When I came home I ran to Stella's garden. I just needed some alone time to think. It was a quarter to four when Fancy showed up.

"Nic, are you o.k.? Patrick told me what happened. She's so selfish. I can't believe she just left like that." She told me as she hugged me. I couldn't bring myself to speak so I just let her hold me. We must've been there a good twenty minutes before Wes showed up. Fancy was still ranting about how I didn't need my mother. I had my family and I had my friends. I could go on without her.

"Who needs someone like that in their lives anyway… hey Wes." She said, and I looked up. Sure enough there was Wes.

"I heard what happened. I'm sorry, Shorty." He said sitting down next to me. "Fancy's right you don't need her. You're better off."

"I have to tell Kristy tomorrow." I said after a minute of silence finally being able to find my voice.

"What? Why you, Nic?" asked Wes.

"Because it's just better if she hears it from me." I told him.

"Do you want us to be there when you tell her?" asked Fancy.

"You should be there Fancy. You two are pretty close."

"I'll come too if you want." Offered Wes.

"You should stay home with Wish and Bert. I think they need you more then I do." I told him "I'll come over afterwards though and tell you about it" I added when I saw the look of disappointment on his face.

"Are you sure?" he asked. Honestly I would like him to be there for me more so then for Kristy since they've never even met. He's a really good friend, like his mom he really knows just how to comfort me whenever I need it.

"I'm sure."

"Alright. Call me if you need anything though o.k.?"

"O.k."

---------------The Next Day at the hospital-----------------------

"Hey, Kristy." I said my voice wavering a little. I felt better after talking to Wes and Fancy for most of the afternoon yesterday, but I was still wasn't over it.

"What's wrong, Nic?" she asked looking worried.

"We really need to talk about something important that happened yesterday" I started.

"What?" she asked me.

"Mom left. She said she needed to know there's more to life out there and she wanted to find it whatever _it_ was." I told her my voice faltering. "She said she didn't know how long she was gonna be gone but, it could be months maybe even years. She told me she still loved us and…and that we're gonna stay with Stella for now." I said not looking up at her.

"So she just left? Just like that?"

"Yeah."

Silence filled the room.

"She needed to find herself huh?" I could hear the pain in her voice.

"Yeah, I guess. Kristy-" and I stopped as soon as I looked up. Kristy's cheeks were stained in tears and she was holding her knees to her chest. My heart broke even more then when Mom told us she was leaving. Kristy looked so small. I was overcome with the need to hold her and so I did.

"Kristy I'm so sorry. Listen to me, we don't need her. We're better off" I said repeating the words Fancy and Wes told me yesterday.

"Doesn't she love us anymore?" she sobbed.

"She says she does. She says she just can't live like this anymore."

"Whatever." She said sniffling. "So we're gonna stay with Stella, huh?"

I was really surprised that she didn't take it harder so I asked her "That's it? You accept it? Just like that?"

"Well think about it, Nic. She hasn't been happy in a really long time. I was actually kind of expecting it. I just didn't think it would happen so soon. But there's not much we can do about, now is there? It's better if we _both_ just accept it and move on with our lives."

"You're right. Now that I think about it, I can't believe I didn't see this coming." I said feeling a little silly at the thought of how depressed I was yesterday. Here Kristy was taking the news so well compared to how I took it, even though she's been through the most.

"So how was you're day?" she asked me as though nothing big had just happened.

"It's looking up" I said laughing a little as I said.

---------------------------------Monday----------------

"It's so good to be out of that hospital!" said Kristy as she got out of the car when we arrived at Stella's. "So this is where we're living now huh? Well it could be worse." She said smiling.

"Before we go in there Kristy, let's take a little walk to a neighbor of mine's all right?" said Stella smiling as well.

"O.K." said Kristy hesitantly.

We walked the short distance to Wish's sister, Delia's house.

"So…who lives here?" asked Kristy when we arrived at Delia's.

"My neighbor, Delia" said Stella.

"And why exactly are we here again?"

"Because…well because since you're going tom be living here now I though it would be good for you to meet the neighbors." Said Stella.

"Uh-huh. Aren't we gonna knock first?" Kristy said as Stella opened the front door.

"Oh…um…no. They're expecting us, Delia told me not to bother knocking first"

And as soon as we stepped in the door…

"SURPRISE!"

"Wha-" said Kristy. "What's going on?"

"Surprise Party." I said from behind her.

"Oh, wow. Wow. I'm-I…wow."

"Hello, Kristy, right?" said Delia coming up from behind us.

"Yeah."

"I'm Delia. This is my husband, Pete, my sister, Wish, and my nephews, Wes, and Bert. We just wanted to welcome you to the neighborhood."

"Thanks. Wow." She said again. It was then I noticed her eyes were getting teary.

"Kristy, are you okay?" I asked her, concerned.

"Yeah. I'm fine. It's just…Things really are gonna be okay aren't they."

"Well, yeah. What'd you expect?" I said laughing a little, as Delia and Stella hurried Kristy into the dining room for some cake and presents.

'_Things really are going to be okay.'_ I thought to myself. And for the first time, I actually believed it.

A/N: I'm not really happy w/the way this chapter turned out either, which is the main reason why I'm gonna fast forward a few years for the next chapter. _Please_let me know what you think so far. i'm begging here.

Yours Truly,

FANCY-PANTS LOCKHART


End file.
